Bees Lose to Bandits in Ten, 2-1

The two teams came into the game under similar circumstances with both pitchers coming off their worst performances of the season. The pitchers' duel came a surprise to many since both teams came into the game in the top seven in team batting average and numbers one and two in total home runs.

Instead pitching became the story and Raul Alcantara looked masterful on the mound. Alcantara quickly struck out the first two batters and eventually forced Quad Cities to leave two runners on base to end the first inning. The right-hander didn't allow another base runner until the fifth inning when he gave up back-to-back two-out singles. Once again Alcantara got out of the inning without dealing with a great deal of stress on the mound.

Alcantara first flirted with danger in his sixth inning of work. He struck out the first batter, but allowed a single to Colin Walsh. Walsh advanced into scoring position on a groundout to the shortstop Sean Jamieson. Alcantara battled and struck out Anthony Garcia on a slider the caught the low and outside corner. The game remained 0-to-0 after six innings.

Alcantara (3-5) responded to his last outing in which he gave up ten earned runs by tossing six scoreless innings on Saturday night. The youngster only allowed four hits and one walk, and struck out a season-high six batters. He gave way to Jose Macias who three shutout innings before the tenth.

The game made it to the tenth inning because the Bees offense struggled to touch Tyrell Jenkins and didn't advance a runner into scoring position until the sixth inning. Overall the Bees had six hits before the tenth inning when they strung together a couple hits to score a run. Aaron Shipman delivered the first run of the game by hitting a ground ball up the middle on a full count pitch with Rashun Dixon at third base. The Bees led 1-to-0 heading into the bottom of the tenth.

But the first batter in the bottom of the tenth sent a high fly ball to right-centerfield that Bobby Crocker couldn't see and Shipman couldn't track down. Jamieson followed with an error at shortstop and Matt Williams walked. Eventually Macias allowed a couple base hits with the bases loaded and two runs scored to win the game.

The Bees play game two with the Quad Cities River Bandits on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. For information on Bees baseball and promotions, call (319) 754-5705 or visit www.gobees.com.

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Midwest League Stories from June 3, 2012

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• Chiefs Fall 6-5 in 10 Innings Sunday - Peoria Chiefs
• Captains Drop Anchor in Eighth, Sink TinCaps 7-2 - Fort Wayne TinCaps
• "Balk- Off" Win for the Captains - Lake County Captains
• Chris Schaeffer Placed on DL - Lansing Lugnuts
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